Saruto | The Bloodline Prophecy (Part 1)

Chapter 15: Temples of Reflection

The golden shimmer of the newborn sun complemented the architecture of the temples. The gleaming stream that surrounded it flickered in a crystal ambiance. Approaching a wooden bridge, we crossed cautiously with the creaking of the wood. It looked like the grounds of the Temple had been kept taken care of. The monks that once occupied the temple were extinct so I wonder how it kept its healthy glow. Looking over the side of the bridge I stared at my reflection in the pools of water. I observed as the Koi swam peacefully in the diamond rocks. Legend said the reflection judged the souls that looked through it.

Quickly I found my eyes darting away from the pool. I didn't wish to find out whether the legend was true. I already knew what lied in my soul.

Glancing over to Shikadami, I saw her amazement at the sight. Before our mission, she had spent hours studying about the Temples of Reflection and the mysteries that they held. I smiled at her amusement. Abruptly she noticed that I was staring at her so I quickly looked away. She snickered while trying to cover her mouth before I led on. I blushed in embarrassment.

Once we entered the courtyard, we were met with the others. Immediately a fresh cut on Inojou caught my attention.

"What happened?" Shikadami spoke out as she ran over to where he stood.

Brushing it off, Inojou tried to push her away as she examined the cut, rolling his eyes and trying to act all tough. Noticing that he was being difficult she sighed and walked away.

"Not sure about you two but we ran into some Assassins of the Mist," Haru laughed off, "Ino, over here thought he could take him all on by himself. Served as a good decoy before I took them out."

I glanced back over to Inojou who was trying to hide his expression. He was clearly embarrassed.

"I let you take them all on purpose." He snarked.

Haru's eyes lit up as she clenched her fist at him, immediately sending him on edge to protect his face. She growled as she barked at him.

Ignoring their goof off, I turned my attention towards Tsuki and Choban.

"And you guys?" I questioned.

I was then backed up by Shikadami who crossed her arms and seemed as interested as I was to hear a debrief from some people with sense. Inojou and Haru are great shinobi but they lack a sense of the seriousness of certain missions. Especially this one. None of them knew it back; this one was very important.

"No, but we found evidence that a second party is up here with us," Tsuki said as she soon picked up contaminated dirt from her side pouch.

As she released it into my hand, I analyzed it before handing it off to Shikadami. She did the same and analyzed it more in-depth.

"What do you think, Choban?" I wondered.

He remained quiet before giving me a response.

"Not sure," he remarked, "Definitely something new."

Great. We may have gotten rid of the Assassins but now we have a second party.

I rubbed my chin as I tried to think about how this could pose a future problem.

"Send a message to the Hidden Leaf that we made it to the Temple of Reflection."

Immediately Choban nodded before dispersing from us to write the message. I watched as he perched on a rock and took out the writing utensils and paper from his bag. Scribbling something done efficiently, he then proceeded to crumple it up and use a special jutsu to make the paper burst into flames and then ash.

"It's sent." He responded before getting up from the rock and giving us a reassuring nod.

I nodded back before turning back to the rest of the courtyard. Suddenly I realized that I was nervous. Kakashi was here. Giving the hand signals of an all-clear, the rest of them quickly grew quiet before following me up a stone staircase into the group of temples.

We proceeded cautiously but confidently as we passed each window, door, and pools of water. Listening closely to our surroundings, I made the conclusion that we were being followed. But did the others notice? Continuing to walk, I felt as the figure continued to follow us from the rooftops. We were definitely being watched. They were smart, steering clear of the sun to avoid creating shadows on the ground below. Any new shadow cast, Shikadami would've immediately sensed. This figure was highly skilled. I couldn't get a read on them. Even my normal ability to sense chakra could pick up there.

As well all remained quiet and listened as we walked up the abandoned streets between the temples, I glanced at Tsuki. Her Byakugan was far more powerful than mine. Easily catching my shift in chakra nature, she glanced over to me and saw that I was trying to give her a signal. Getting the clue, I watched as veins formed from her eyes as she began to cautiously look around. Squinting at the rooftops, I could tell that she was struggling with identifying the shift in chakra as I was. Looking back toward the ground, she gave me the answer I needed.

This action prompted the rest of us to covertly react. I felt as Haru slipped a kunai down her sleeve and hidden in her hands. Who were we about to come up against. Without a second more, Haru impulsively sent her kunai initiating that we knew that we were being followed. No choice now but to fight back.

"Fireball Jutsu!" I yelled as I performed a single hand jutsu following Haru's kunai throw.

Phasing away, the figure moved swiftly and efficiently dodged both our attacks. Something about the style of the unknown figure was familiar to me but the disruption in the chakra nature put me off from truly knowing what it was. Each of our eyes darted around the temples trying to find where the figure had gone. Pulling dual swords from his back, Inojou stood at a ready sense as he was the first to locate the figure. Darting towards his abrupt position, he slashed his swords at the figure but to his surprise, it was replaced with a block of wood.

"Damn! It's toying with us!" Inojou grunted in a pit of annoyance.

There was no doubt that he was cursing under his breath. Soon the calm and collected Choban entered the fight and he sat down to meditate. This was the cue for us to buy him some time. Shikadami was the first to attack as she slammed the ground and took control of the surrounding shadow. We watched as the clouds began to cover the sun setting the streets to be engulfed in a dark shadow. The shadows soon came alive as they moved freely searching for anything that should step in it and become forever trapped. Her eyes moved under her closed eyelids before she finally sensed something in the left corner building.

"There!" She pointed before we sprinted and barged open the doors.

Inside we saw as her shadow swirled around an unknown object. Slowly and cautiously approaching the darkness. We lurked in to finally see what Shikadami had caught, but nothing was there.

A trap.

As we all were huddled in one room, I felt the air shift as something went for me from behind. Without time to react, I felt a blade gunning for my throat but abruptly stopped. Everyone stood in shock as I slowly turned around to meet my attacker.

First, I noticed that Choban has used his reflection technique to follow us in secret and stop the attacker from sneaking upon us. Choban hands held the kunai that pointed towards my neck with his fingertips. Revealing himself from invisibility, he smirked before also meeting the attacker.

My eyes widened in both shock and relief.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi laughed before staring directly into my eyes.

"Yes, it's been a while, Saruto."